Gadgets

Wearable tech made strides in 2015, but it still has a long way to go

It was the year the present caught up with the future. Watches could send messages with a tap of a finger, a shirt could be utilized to track your heart rate, dresses could be programmed to change colors with air pressure. No longer was the 1983 cartoon Inspector Gadget, and his many gizmos, merely a figment of our imagination. In 2015, it was clear wearable technology was here and now, and the possibilities were endless.

Penny from 1983's Inspector Gadget, with what seems like the first ever iteration of the Apple Watch.

But was the future truly wearable or simply gimmicky, at best? That’s the question brands need to address before moving forward into 2016. For every Apple Watch released in 2015 came multiple unremarkable "wearables" that were too fashion and not enough function (i.e. bracelets that double as an iPhone cord), or all function and no fashion (lackluster hoodies that heat up via battery).

Have we arrived at a wearable-tech race to the bottom to see which new big tech company or fashion brand can come out with the latest subpar device?

Image: Mashable, Luke Leonard

“Fashion is playing catch up right now,” explains Marshal Cohen, chief industry analyst at NPD Group, to Mashable. “2015 turned out to be the year consumers started to become believers and they’re savvier than ever.”

Meaning, consumers want form, function and style when it comes to these investment pieces and can see when a product is a commodity.

“Now value doesn’t mean lowest price, it’s best bang for its buck,” Cohen says. “Technology adds bang for its buck and consumers will buy if it adds value into their lives."

According to NPD data, wearable technology now comprises only 1% of the entire fashion market, but it's growing quickly.

“That doesn’t sound like a lot, but it’s in its infancy,” he says. “As we move into 2016 and 2017, there will be a lot more traction.”

The Apple Watch went a long way toward training the consumer to think of wearable technology as palatable. It was less geek more chic, placing style above technology, and was marketed it as a fashion watch first — one that could easily replace a classic timepiece. One only needs to look at Hermes, arguably the most prestigious fashion brand in the world, and its collaboration with Apple on premium straps to see this is true.

That being said, the watch hasn't taken off like wild fire as the company had hoped, its prices are a tad bit unapproachable, ranging from $349 for its Sport edition to $12,000 for the Apple Watch Edition.

Nonetheless, there's no doubt that the Apple Watch's success has put pressure on other brands to emulate its momentum. Rebecca Minkoff, the contemporary womenswear brand, debuted its own wearables over the summer. Some pieces included a Lightning-cable bracelet; others, a notification bracelet.

Sure, they were chic, but was there really a need for a Lightning cable when there were no chargers in sight? It’s the opposite of brands like the Q bracelet, a clunky piece of jewelry that actually charges an iPhone. But would anyone want to wear it out? Probably not.

At $58, this bracelet acts as an iPhone's lightning charger.

Image: Rebecca Minkoff

The same goes for items like the Ringly and Altruis by Vinaya, a notification ring and necklace, respectively. Both, while beautiful, simply notify a user when an incoming text or phone call comes in. It’s great for those who want to be freed from their phones. But with only Bluetooth and vibration technology, is it really adding much more than the phone itself vibrating?

Why is it so difficult to have a perfect union between fashion and tech?

Image: Mashable/Jhila Farzaneh

“What we’re seeing in fashion now is that no one wants to get behind now that fashion technology is so hot,” Cohen says. “You don’t want to be second in the technology world, which is why we’re seeing gimmicks more than technology.”

It’s not only established brands that are feeling the pressure to venture into the technology space. Timo Weiland, the young CFDA-anointed brand based in New York City, says it is constantly thinking about that direction.

“I am starting to work on wearable technology but we don’t have resources for that as of yet,” says Donna Kang, womenswear designer at Timo Weiland. “While we want to get into it and embrace it, we do know that it has to be done beautifully.”

The brand Caeden is attempting to get a piece of the action in an already saturated accessories market now dominated by Jawbone, Fossil, TAG Heuer, among others, by creating a seamless connection between fashion and function. Its bracelet was designed to be beautiful, and backing it up is an application that measures heart rate patterns, breathing and stress levels.

Image: Caeden

“We believe that a product must be really compelling and have a specific feature set in order to inspire people to make the choice to wear it every day,” says Nora Levinson, its CEO and president.

Both Levinson and co-founder David Watkins, admit that the new wearables space is still “figuring itself out.”

“It’s a category that’s still in the very early stages,” Levinson says. “Companies are trying out a lot of different strategies to see what consumers are going to stick with over time, and right now there isn’t a clear answer on which approach will win.”

Though totally wearable and beautifully designed, Caeden's Sona still has yet to prove that it can educate consumers to want yet another device that tracks their everyday. It's also a field ripe with new competition from dynasty brands like Fossil, to established players like Jawbone, Fitbit and Misfit coming out with new iterations of their successful trackers.

Whether or not wearable technology in the accessories department will take off is TBD. But the athletic market has been seeing success with technological fibers.

Brands like Nike, Under Armour, Columbia, Uniqlo, Adidas and others have been touting their technology for years, which include moisture-wicking fibers, heat-dissipating tech and 3D-printed garments — all of which are said to enhance the performance of its wearers.

Ralph Lauren, the quintessential American tailored brand, sees potential in wearables, too. In August, the brand launched its first PoloTech shirt, one that’s embedded with sensors that read data, including heart rate, stress rate and calories burned.

Two models wear Ralph Lauren's new Polo Tech smart shirt.

Image: Mashable, Lance Uanoff

“We created a unique, first-of-its kind adaptable workout with the PoloTech shirt,” Lauren told Mashable. “So it’s taking wearables to the next level by giving you the next step in your pursuit of fitness while offering a luxury product with the quality that Ralph Lauren has woven into its DNA.”

While the shirt is noble in what it seeks to accomplish, it still seems to be in beta/testing mode. Its sensor is clunky, a black piece of plastic that latches onto the torso area of the shirt. For a brand that has traditionally been known for its elegance in classic design, this one fell short.

One designer in London is taking her definition of wearables to another level, and wants to change wearers’ lives. Her name is Lauren Bowker, of the young brand called The Unseen, one that recently collaborated with Selfridges. Bowker started her career as a scientist and created an award-winning carbon emission sensing ink, PdCl2, that changes colors with pollution.

“My passion is to inspire and create something meaningful,” Bowker tells Mashable. “I want to use science and fashion to change lives.”

Merging science with fashion, Bowker invented an air pollution jacket while studying in college. The jacket changed from yellow to black when it sensed a certain emission level in the atmosphere. Bowker also created a watch prototype where a polka dot would appear if a child was having an asthma attack.

“It worked through monitoring blood levels in oxygen,” she says. “When you have an attack, the pH is measured on the skin.”

Image: The UNSEEN

Bowker gained viral fame last year when she collaborated with Swarovski on a Gemstone cap that would change colors with a wearers’ mood. The 40,000 gemstones could change colors based on brain activity. When we visited her studio a few months ago, Bowker was in the process of creating leather goods that could change colors by the pressure of the environment. By simply blowing on the leather, it would change depending on how pressurized.

"Essentially, I think wearable technology can truly aid someone's life a little bit more," she says. "It shouldn’t stop and end at Apple watches, phone on a wrist. I don’t anything on my wrist, I have my phone, it doesn't enhance my life. I think wearable technology helps live a person's life a better way, and that should be what we're all designing for."

Bowker is probably the closest answer to how wearable technology can be utilized for good. Forget the gimmicks of trackers or how it can replace a phone. While there are certainly uses for that, it doesn't really take the conversation forward.

Instead, perhaps wearables can become technology that can truly elevate users' lives. Like Bowker has done before in her prototypes, there should be more devices out there that can be essential for everyday life. She proves that wearable technology can be utilized for health, signaling if a user is going through a health crisis, or for one's environment, used as a warning device when pollution levels have changed.

With news like Beijing's toxic pollution levels becoming an international concern, wearable technology is proving that it's no longer just a commodity or a luxury: It can be essential for survival. This is where brands should focus on for 2016, truly gauging what users need, sometimes without the glitzy, gold and glam bells and whistles.

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